Josh Arieh (born September 26, 1974 in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

) is an American professional poker player. Arieh has been competing in poker competitions since 1999.

Tournament history

Arieh finished in third place in the

2004 World Series of Poker The 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was held at Binion's Horseshoe after Harrah's Entertainment purchased the casino and the rights to the tournament in January. Harrah's announced that future WSOP tournaments will be held in a moving circuit of ...

(WSOP) Main Event and has a World Series of Poker title in Limit

Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fa ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and a 2nd-place finish at the

2000 World Series of Poker The 2000 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was held at Binion's Horseshoe. Preliminary events Main Event There were 512 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament. The 2000 Main Event was the first time the total entries o ...

Pot Limit In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, ...

Omaha event to

Johnny Chan Johnny Chan (;He has another Chinese name "Chen Qiangni" () which is also commonly used by Chinese-language media. It is a transliteration of "Johnny Chan" (as "Chen" for "Chan", "Qiangni" for "Johnny") rather than his Chinese birth name. born ...

. At the

2005 World Series of Poker The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2nd, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7th. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15th marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports an ...

, he won his second bracelet by defeating Chris Ferguson in a Pot Limit Omaha event. Arieh finished 2nd in the

2014 World Series of Poker The 2014 World Series of Poker is the 45th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Paradise, Nevada, USA, between May 27 – July 14, 2014. There were 65 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 ...

$5,000 No Limit Hold'em - Eight Handed (Event #35). As of 2021 Arieh is one of only three people to have finished 3rd place or better in the World Series of Poker Main Event, as well as finish 2nd place or better in the $50,000 buyin

The Poker Players Championship The Poker Players Championship is a $50,000 buy-in event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Added in the 2010, it replaced the former $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship as the highest-stakes mixed-games event. It is considered among the mos ...

W.S.O.P. event. The only other two players to do so in both events, are Poker Hall of Famers:

Scotty Nguyen Thuận B. "Scotty" Nguyễn (born October 28, 1962) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player who is a five-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, most notably as the winner of the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event and ...

, and

Phil Hellmuth Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record sixteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event ...

. Through the 2021 World Series of Poker, Josh Arieh has won 4 World Series of Poker bracelets, 3 of which he won in 3 different decades, he has finished runner up in 3 different W.S.O.P. events, and he has made it to 19 World Series of Poker final tables. He has also finished 10th place or better, in several different game modes/game structures offered in the current W.S.O.P. schedule. For instance: Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, 8-game, Limit Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha, Dealer's Choice (which is open to 20 different poker games at any given time), No Limit Hold'em, Limit Omaha/Stud Hi/Lo 8 or better, Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better. At 2021 World Series of Poker, Arieh bested out 2nd place finisher

to earn the WSOP Player of the Year honors. This was quite an impressive feat, especially considering the fact that

set the record for most final tables reached in a single World Series Poker in 2021. Arieh has made 2 final tables on the

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the f ...

. He also has several other tournament victories and final table television appearances. As of 2021, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9,232,000. Most of his tournament winnings, over ($6,800,000) have come at the WSOP.

Personality

Arieh has the reputation as something of a divisive figure, often relying on verbal bullying when trying to force a hand. He has earned the friendship and respect of many of his competitors, but has also committed several faux pas during his career, lambasting

Harry Demetriou Charidimos (Harry) Demetriou (born 20 August 1958 in London) is a Greek Cypriot-British poker player. World Series of Poker Demetriou first became known in poker circles for his 3rd-place finish at the $2,000 no limit Texas hold 'em tournament ...

after an important hand in the Main Event of the

and, after being eliminated from that tournament, pulling one of the remaining players ( David Williams) aside and whispering, "bust this motherfucker," referring to the other remaining opponent, eventual champion

Greg Raymer Gregory Raymer, nicknamed "Fossilman," is a professional poker player and author. He is best known for winning the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event. Early life Raymer's family moved numerous times during his childhood, from his birthplace ...

. He subsequently apologized after both incidents. Arieh is friends with former professional baseball player

John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...

. Arieh was Smoltz's caddy when Smoltz attempted to qualify for the U.S. Open Championship in 2010.

World Series of Poker bracelets

Notes

External links

World Poker Tour profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arieh, Josh 1974 births 20th-century American Jews American poker players World Series of Poker bracelet winners Living people Sportspeople from Rochester, New York People from Atlanta 21st-century American Jews